The Kentucky football team looks to extend its winning streak to four games Saturday when it steps out of Southeastern Conference play to take on Louisiana-Monroe on Senior Day at Commonwealth Stadium. The Wildcats will be looking to win their seventh game for the first time since the 2002 season when they square off with the Warhawks in the home finale for UK.
Kentucky is coming off a 38-26 win over Vanderbilt last Saturday in Commonwealth Stadium. Quarterback Andr? Woodson, who was named SEC Offensive Player of the Week, threw for 450 yards with four touchdowns and the Wildcats racked up 597 yards of total offense in their third consecutive league victory. Louisiana-Monroe broke a seven-game losing streak last week when it dominated Florida International 35-0 in Miami.
The Cats and Warhawks meet for the third time in school history. The all-time series between the two squads is tied at one game apiece. Kentucky, which is 5-1 all-time vs. members of ULM?s Sun Belt Conference, beat what was then known as Northeast Louisiana 49-14 in Lexington in the last meeting between the teams during the 1997 season.
PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES – NOV. 13
Head Coach Rich Brooks
On quarterback Andre? Woodson being named ?
?I?m real happy for Andre? to get that recognition. As you can see from reading the release, these guys are climbing up the ladders in the career list, like all-time passing yards. Keenan (Burton), Andre? (Woodson) and Rafael (Little) are all making an impact on the record books and the good thing is that they have another year left. In another year when they leave here I?m hoping they will get the credit that they deserve.?
Injury report?
?It is not real good this week. It?s probably that time of year and I?m sure everybody is having the same problem. Nii Adjei Oninku is out with a broken hand and he will have to have surgery on that hand. Hayden Lane is out with a wrist (dislocation). I would say he is out for the next two weeks he?ll definitely have to have surgery on it. I think both of them will try to have their surgery tomorrow. Ventrell Jenkins is pretty questionable with a shoulder that he hurt during the game. He did finish the game, but he can not lift his arm and he?s in a sling. Jacob Tamme had a pulled abdominal muscle coming out of the Georgia game and couldn?t practice much last week. He gutted it out and played against Vanderbilt, but I would say he is very questionable for this week. He aggravated it against during the game. Trai Williams, I would say he is doubtful for this week. He has made progress, but he?s doubtful. Durrell White is questionable. He has movement back, but he is still lacking a little strength. We?ll see as the week goes along as to whether or not he is able to play. Jason Leger will test that shoulder again tomorrow and see whether he is able to play. He is questionable. Tim Masthay is between doubtful and questionable. There is some swelling in the ankle which probably makes it painful to try to punt on it. We will see on Thursday, probably, whether he is ready to go or not. Marcus McClinton has a pretty bad hip-pointer. He is questionable as well. Rafael Little is better than we expected. I would say that he will be able to play this week. How much he plays will depend on how he feels. Going into the game we didn?t expect to play him as many snaps as we did. I kept pulling him out after he would make a long run and asking him how he felt. He would look at me and say that he was okay. So, I put him back in.?
On the game against University of Louisiana-Monroe?
?We have a tough game this week. I think it is a very dangerous game for us. They?re athletic. They had a bye two weeks ago, and came off of that bye with their best game of the year where they beat Florida International 35-0. If you put on the game they played against Arkansas, the second play of the game they hand off to the running back on a play out of the gun and he gashed Arkansas for a 63-yard touchdown. They have receivers and they do spread the field. Last week they went with a two-tight end set and had a very effective running game as well as a passing game. We honestly have our work cut out for us. Having not been in this situation before, these players have to understand how we got here. We got here because we prepared very hard and we work very hard, particularly with a few players being out. New players will have to step in. This is a huge game for us. We can equal the winning home record at Commonwealth if we can get that sixth home win. We can also go to 7-4 (record). It?s also awfully nice to pick up the release and see Kentucky in second place in the SEC East. I know that is not a common occurrence and we need not to taint that by not doing well this coming Saturday before we go to Tennessee. This in my mind is a huge game.?
On the senior class who will play their final home game this weekend?
?It?s a small group of original players. We?ve added a few through the walk-ons and transfers. They have endured some very difficult years. They have not received a lot of credit or good feelings for the efforts that they?ve put in from this University. I?m just tickled to death that they can go out with what they?ve done this year. The banner they can carry out from this football program is what they?ve done this year. It is a great life lesson, to persevere and you just keep working and hopefully something good will happen. Finally, something good has happened for them.?
On Corey Peters and Jamil Paris?
?(Corey) Peters and (Jamil) Paris both played in the game on Saturday. Peters is probably closer to 100 percent. He is playing with a brace on that knee. Paris isn?t playing quite at 100 percent, but he did play and I think he had between six and eight snaps. I would say he will get more snaps this week because of Nii Adjei?s (Oninku) injury.?
On building confidence?
?Like I said last week, this group has only disappointed me once in their mental preparation and that was against LSU. I think they all understand what is at stake. We did do some things that we need to do a lot better. We played poorly, our tackling was awful. It?s always nice to win and be able to point out the things that they haven?t done very well and they can get better at.?
On whether or not he is having fun this year?
?I?ll have a lot more fun when the season is over. I don?t think you can get too caught up in what you did last Saturday when you have another Saturday right ahead of you. That?s what I?m trying to get our players to focus on. Enjoy it for 24 hours and then you have to put it away. You will have plenty of time in the off-season to enjoy the whole turnaround and the whole deal of the success that you?ve had. If you get full of yourself during the season it is a major mistake.?
On being +12 in the turnover margin and how that is different from a year ago?
?Last year we practiced it but we didn?t have very many either (takeaways). We also practiced not giving it away and we gave it away. I think a lot of it is luck, but a lot of it is an attitude and running to the ball particularly on defense. It?s important to have guys running to the ball because you never know when you?re going to have a ball pop out, and if you?re trotting to the ball rather than running full speed you?re not going to get it and the offense is going to recover it. The same thing happens with a deflected pass, just like in the Georgia game with (Trevard) Lindley, if Roger Williams hadn?t been running over there full speed he never would have gotten the tip. Once you have a little success doing that it is easier to get them to do it.?
On the improved play of Andre? Woodson?
?He would be right up there near the top (in his coaching career of players? turnarounds.) When you?ve coached as many years as I have, that list gets a little foggy because there are so many of them that do show tremendous improvement. If you tried to rate them all it would be very difficult. Andre? has made a major, major turnaround since last fall. He is a leader this year and he wasn?t a very good leader last year. He is mindful and protective of the football. The fumble he lost against Vanderbilt was the first one we?ve lost all season. He is obviously showing great judgment in throwing the football. He?s had a few, but any quarterback when you throw that many passes is going to have a few that are going to go to the other guy. He?s done great at that. He is working much harder to be a student of the game. He understands the defenses. He understands better to get in and out of plays. I just can?t say enough good things about him. He?s had a remarkable year and I hope these recognitions like the one he got today will get him some post-season honors, because I think he deserves it.?
On his team?s offensive explosion?
?I think we are not running the ball well enough right now. We need to run it better. The fact that we have run it better in the last three games has made us more explosive. That has helped our passing game. Early in the year we kind of got away from that and we weren?t doing it as well. Even with new faces seemingly every week on the offensive line and shuffling guys around that has stayed pretty consistent. We need to keep focusing on that. I knew we had weapons, but you can?t really accomplish something until you put the pieces together. Andre? (Woodson) has done just a great job of managing the offense. He?s been trying to get the ball different guys. You saw that saw DeMoreo (Ford) get a touchdown this week. Steve Johnson caught a touchdown. David Jones made a couple of huge catches on third down and 14 and converted a first down for us. Andre? isn?t looking to get it to just one guy, he?s looking for the open receiver and that is what has made is successful.?
On the play of the offensive line and having to deal with injuries?
?I told the team we?re going to have to have some other guys step up now, because we lose Hayden Lane on the line and we?re going to look at Eric Scott at guard now. He played tight end and played a lot as a redshirt freshman. He hasn?t really played too much since we moved him over to center. I think he?s going to be a really good player for us next year at that position as well. He?ll play guard this week as well as taking reps at center. We just have to have guys step up. I think they have really been an unselfish group. They?ve worked very hard. I think you have to give Coach Heggins a lot of credit for shaping those guys into a pretty productive unit. The offensive line you only usually hear about when the quarterback gets sacked or the offensive holding penalty. When things go downhill it always lands on the offensive line. Whenever you are not doing well it is the offensive line?s fault. Whenever you start doing well the quarterback, the running back and the wide receivers get all of the credit. Nobody gives the offensive line much credit, but this offensive line has brought their lunch pail particularly after the bye week and during the bye week. They have a great attitude. They are tougher now than they were. They are more physical than they were at the start of the year. They are getting better as we go through the year. That is a critically important thing.?
On having the theme of firsts this year?
?I?ve tried to use the history lesson quite a bit this year. This team?s history, say the juniors and seniors, their history has been pretty bleak for us. Now they can put a stamp, if you will, on some historical marks that haven?t been achieved very often around here. It can be the 2-0-0-6 team that did it. They can carry that with them the rest of their life. I see a lot of former Kentucky players who have been proud to play here, and a lot of them just like Dicky Lyons? dad did some great things around here but didn?t win very many games. Now junior is going to have a lot to brag about to daddy.?
Kentucky Players
Keenan Burton #19, WR
On how good the offense could be this season?
?I thought we would be good this year. We just had to get focused and do all of the little things right. Those are the things Coach (Brooks) talked about at the beginning of the season, to get ourselves in the best position both physically and mentally to make plays.?
On Rafael Little returning as the starting running back and his impact on the offense?
?It changes things a great deal because he is such a great playmaker. He makes plays out of the backfield when it comes to running the ball and catching the ball. He is a special player. I am not knocking any of our other running backs but he has something special. Each back brings something a little different, you have Alfonso (Smith) with a lot of speed and Tony (Dixon) who can run up the middle and make a lot of people miss.?
On how defenses play against the Kentucky offense…
?Since everybody is doing a good job on the field getting open and making plays, I think it is a lot harder for defenses to key on certain guys. They can?t key on Dicky (Lyons Jr.), they can?t key on myself and they can?t just put eight or nine guys in the box against Rafael (Little). It?s just so hard for defenses to key on what we are doing.?
On the play of quarterback Andre? Woodson?
?What he?s doing is getting everybody into the right protection. He?s getting us into the right plays. He?s playing smart and making the right decisions. That?s something that last year Andre? wouldn?t have done. He?s matured a lot and he understands his role and understands what it takes to be successful in this league. I think (the coaches) trust Andre?s judgment and trust that he will make the right call in the right situation.?
On how it feels when the Kentucky offense is clicking on all cylinders?
?It feels good because you aren?t locked into one certain thing. You don?t have to run the ball 90 times. You don?t have to pass the ball 90 times. It makes it nice because you can sit up in the box and say I can do this or that. You can put the ball in Rafael?s (Little) hands to make a play or put the ball in the air and give the receivers a chance to make a play. I think it?s a special thing. When the offense is clicking on all cylinders, it makes it easier for Coach (Phillips) to call plays.?
On accomplishing goals that the football program has not met in a while?
?It feels good, but you can?t be content. You have to stay focused and you have to stay hungry. You can lose to anybody at any given time. Louisiana-Monroe, we feel, is a good team so now it?s time to step-up, re-focus, get back to the drawing board and understand that we need this game and this game is very important. We have the wins that we need (for a bowl game) but now it?s time to exceed that, it?s time to reach higher and hopefully get a few more wins.?
On offensive coordinator Joker Phillips? approach to the game?
?He?s not a shy guy when it comes to calling plays. He expects us to open it up and he expects us to make plays when we get the opportunity. He feels if you take shots downfield it opens the running game up. If you open the running game up then you can run the ball and that sets up the screen, and the draw and little halfback flip passes. So he does little things liking taking a shot on a deep pass, so if Andre? doesn?t hit me on a deep pass it doesn?t tend to matter. He?s just being smart with the play calling.?
Marcus McClinton #2, FS
On concerns of a let-down against a non-SEC team?
?I don?t think Coach is going to allow us to have a let-down. He said we are going to be doing tackling drills every day this week. I think this week in practice is going to be real tough.?
On the pressure of causing takeaways?
?Yeah, I think there is a little bit of pressure. I think that is one of the consistent positives that we have. Coach (Brooks) says that if we continue to win the turnover margin we should continue to win ball games. We take a lot of pride in our takeaways. So we just have to improve our tackling and do our best to create turnovers.?
On the defensive tackling struggles against Vanderbilt?
?We weren?t bringing our arms around. We just got away from our fundamentals. I think Coach will take care of that though this week.?
On playing better defense on first and second downs?
?I think we need to play better on first and second downs so we are in a better position on third down. On third down a lot of teams they will run the short-side route and expose the slot to make first downs.?
On what has enabled the team to regroup the last three games after the loss at LSU?
?A lot of people on our team have a lot of pride and we were embarrassed (at LSU). During the bye week that next week, Coach (Brooks) said we had a five-game season and that people will remember you for what you do in November. We looked at it that way and now we are 3-0 in that five-game season.?
Michael Aitcheson #72, OL
On moving up in the Southeastern Conference?
?It?s a really great feeling. We?re in a good position to make post-season play. In the past, we always talk about what we?re going to do over the break. This year we get to go somewhere together as a team, and that?s a really exciting feeling.?
On the past four years playing for the University of Kentucky?
?There have been a lot of rough times throughout my years at UK. This season, a lot of the pain has been erased. The Georgia game especially helped erase a lot of the tough times we?ve been through. We kept pushing through, and now there?s light at the end of the tunnel, and we feel a lot more upbeat.?
On Senior Day?
?It will probably be really emotional. I?ve been through a lot at Kentucky. There are a few of us seniors left, and we?re a really close knit group. We?re holding on. The trademark of our class has been that we bring our lunch pails with us to work. We?re not the biggest or strongest bunch in the SEC but we?re a really hard-working group.?
On the difference in this year?s team compared with past teams?
?I knew the identity of our team changed in the spring. Guys started competing a lot more. I knew going into this season it was going to be a different team. Coach [Rich] Brooks told us the importance of this five-game season coming off our bye-week. After the LSU loss, we could do one of two things; pack our bags and be the same old Kentucky, or come off swinging. We did the latter, and it?s been working out really well for us.?
Wesley Woodyard #16, LB
On the redshirt members of the team?
?Those guys are a big part of getting us to a bowl. Even though they?re not playing in games, they?re helping us everyday in practice. They have a job to do, and they do it well by helping us prepare each week. If it wasn?t for those guys we wouldn?t be as good as we are today.?
On the senior class?
?It means a lot to the seniors finally being bowl eligible and getting a good season under their belts. They helped turned this program around and it is their legacy. Our senior class loves to work hard and they keep the attitude of the team up. They don?t let us get down on ourselves. I look up to those guys both on and off the field.?
On locker room reaction of becoming bowl eligible?
?It was really loud. We got our sixth win. It feels good to get that win and have a chance to go to a bowl game. We realize that we still have two games left to play and we need to come out ready to play hard in those games.?
